Hi everyone, Happy Halloween – have you got any exciting plans to celebrate this weekend?

If you’re thinking about going out and enjoying a few drinks to celebrate the spooky season, or looking for somewhere to kick off the end of a busy work week with the ‘parea’, then I think I might have just found the perfect spot for you to visit in Williamsburg.

Let me introduce you to Mr. Melo – an aesthetic, cozy, and intimate listening bar located at 61 Withers Street in Brooklyn, NY, owned by friends and business partners Nikolas Vagenas and Nate Ulsh. Since opening almost three years ago, it has become a popular hotspot in Williamsburg for many reasons.

Mr. Melo is a popular listening bar in Williamsburg. (Photo: Evelyn Karatzas)

Discovering listening bars

Now, you’re probably wondering – what is a listening bar?

Well, up until this interview, I couldn’t tell you. However, according to Nikolas Vagenas, “It’s a kind of place where music is curated and intentional.”

“It is also kind of like a third space that people can go to and enjoy a drink or food and listen to music,” Vagenas told TNH.

The bar itself also carries a unique name that embodies the space perfectly.

“It was originally Bar Melo, and then we changed it to Mr., because there’s too many places called Bar X and I was tired of that, so we went with Mr. Melo, ” the owner said.

“’Melo’ itself means two things – It’s like the root of a lot of music-based words, such as melophilia and melody, it’s also ancient Greek for music and lyrics – ‘melos’.”

The Interior of Mr. Melo by night.(Photo: Courtesy of Brandyn Lui)

The drinks at Mr. Melo

At Mr. Melo, you’ll find a carefully curated cocktail menu with unique flavors you probably won’t find anywhere else.

The drinks menu features the perfect blend of sweet and bitter drinks cocktails which are cleverly named.

There’s the ‘john dough’, the ‘ryan air’, the ‘peachy keen’, and the ‘ginger yuzu smash’, to name a few.

What I also found unique about this bar was their emphasis on sustainability – which brings me to their ‘Compost Cocktails’.

An example of their ‘compost cocktails’ is their ‘feta brine martini’, which features Greek feta, olives, white vermouth and Saintwoods vodka, as well as their ‘baba rita’ cocktail, which features smoked eggplant infused Suerte tequila, agave and lime.

Nate Ulsh and Nikolas Vagenas, the owners of Mr. Melo in Williamsburg. (Photo: Courtesy of Makani Kirwin)

Discussing the idea behind this element in their drinks menu, Vagenas explained that he wanted to find a way to be sustainable, which led to him incorporating ingredients that would otherwise go to waste.

“I wanted to create a list of cocktails that were sustainable, and because we’re using ingredients that we throw away – we called them compost cocktails,” he said.

He explained that the concept also allowed him and Ulsh to offer more affordable cocktails, as it allows for leftover food ingredients to be repurposed rather than discarded.

“For example, our ‘Baba Rita’ cocktail is made with leftover eggplant skins from our Baba Ganoush, which is essentially our melitzanosalata,” Vagenas added.

The Feta Brine Martini at Mr. Melo. (Photo: Courtesy of Brandyn Lui)

The food at Mr. Melo

In addition to the specialty drinks, some of the delicious, Greek-style bites you can find at Mr. Melo include the spicy lamb mini burger, the Greek drunk fries, the crispy eggplant sando, the pickle plate, the house-made zaatar potato chips which come with your choice of spicy whipped feta, curry hummus, or miso baba dip, and the vegan Caesar salad.

The bar. (Photo: Evelyn Karatzas)

The vibe

As a trendy listening bar, Mr. Melo is recognized for its welcoming atmosphere, friendly staff, hospitality, ambience, and high-quality sound system, typically attracting a 25-to-35-year-old crowd, although younger and older guests visit as well.

Over the years, the bar has also hosted multiple listening parties, and is a popular venue for private events, including birthday celebrations, engagement parties, and even weddings.

When asked what a typical night at Mr. Melo looks like, Vagenas explained that the bar hosts DJs from Wednesday through Saturday, with different DJs rotating throughout the week.

“We have DJs Wednesday through Saturday. Wednesday and Thursday, from 8 PM to 12AM, and then Friday and Saturday, from 9 PM to 2 AM,” he said.

“Friday and Saturday nights are kind of crazy party vibes. That’s when you get less into the listening bar and more of just a bar vibe. People come, they drink a bunch, they listen to the music, some people come for the DJs specifically – but that’s the general vibe.”

Another big focus which adds to the atmosphere and vibes of the bar, is its focus on the ‘three a’s’, being: “approachable, affordable and accessible”.

The Baba Rita cocktail. (Photo: Courtesy of Brandyn Lui)

Turning three

As Mr. Melo prepares to celebrate its third birthday, Vagenas reflected on some of the things he’s loved most about running the business alongside Ulsh.

“Over time, every year has become busier than the last, which is awesome, but I think generally just having really great experiences with guests at the bar has been one of the most rewarding parts,” the Greek-American bar owner said.

“Like whenever someone tells me they had an amazing time, or a friend will say will say ‘this person went there and had an amazing time’ –  it’s this specific interaction, and all those sorts of things which are what I love.”

Nate Ulsh and Nikolas Vagenas opened Mr.Melo in 2023. (Photo: Courtesy of Makani Kirwin)

Mr. Melo goes to Athens

As a bar recognized for its quality cocktails, Vagenas added how Mr. Melo has also done pop-ups in numerous cities and countries, including in Montreal, Toronto, New Orleans, Arizona, Puerto Rico, and Mexico, and in just a few weeks will also be participating in the ‘Athens Bar Show 2026’ on November 4 for the first time.

Vagenas expressed how excited he was to be taking part, while also using the opportunity to spend time with his family in Patras.

“I was always wanting to put this together and I was really excited to be able to go back. More importantly, I just really wanted to see my family and this is the most affordable way for me to do it,” he shared.

“But it’s also really cool to be able to bring all the things that basically quintessentially are Mr. Melo to Greece and then show that to my family because even though they can’t travel here, or they can’t afford to travel here, they’ll get a taste of what it is essentially, which is really cool.”

To learn more, visit www.mrmelobar.com, or follow @mr.melobar on Instagram